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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Cure in California, mastering new album

Just want everyone to understand that this is third hand info and is NOT 100% confirmed. I did contact Brian Gardner and he confirmed that he has worked on "new stuff" with them. Anyway, it's the first bit of good news we've had in awhile, so here it is:

"The Cure were in California on April 21, 2008 at the Mastering Lab.Brian Gardner mastered the new album.Robert Smith mixed it.The new album will be a double.I heard this personally from a source that was with The Cure, listening to their new album."

Ok, so if true, the album is done. So why is Universal holding it until September? They must have a good reason, right?(Thanks Anonymous)

65 comments:

I just hope this is a sign that the new album will be out much sooner than the projected (newly delayed) date of Sept. 16th! If the new album is done and being mixed, I have NO idea why it would take until September to be released...makes no sense to me :o(

Oh well guys, if the album is done on April 21st do you really think it is possible to release it before September? We are almost in May and until the record is not finished no marketing campaign can start and other important records had already scheduled to be released in the following months by the record label, then July and August (not the best part of the year to release a record) so September makes sense.

v i k k, you are right...it's just a shame is all. It just doesn't make sense to me that they postponed the tour in September...and now the album isn't going to be out until September...the reason the tour was postponed was because they needed a bit longer to finish the album...and now it's going to be a YEAR that they needed by the time the album is scheduled to be released?

Especially when I read somewhere back in December that Smith said the album was done and he just needed to decide on the final track listing...seems like he should have had plenty of time.

I assume some of the delay must be on the record label's part...and maybe this is the reason the Cure shouldn't go through a record label after their contract is up...because if it's true that the album is done now...they could just release it through the site or as a digital download through iTunes or something.

The only thing that irritates me is that I was REALLY looking forward to buying the new album when the release date was set for June 3rd. I'm going to the Red Rocks show on May, 21st and I've seen videos of 3 of the new songs that they've been playing on the last several tours and I was really looking forward to having a studio recording of "A Boy I Never Knew" because I'm definitely looking forward to hearing it live myself...and now I'll have to wait until September?

I just don't think it's fair to the fans (and blah blah, I know a bunch of people are going to go on and on about how the Cure doesn't owe the fans anything and blah blah, I've heard it all before) but seriously...why even postpone the tour in the first place? I waited almost 7 months to see them on tour and I didn't feel that bad because they were postponing it to work on the new album, which I thought would be OUT by the time the tour kicked off...and now, here we are, almost 7 months later...no tour and no album to show for it. All I can say is that Robert better be right when he said the wait would be worth it when they finally played the postponed shows...because now I'm disappointed in the album news.

And like someone else said somewhere else...would a little update on the official site be too much to ask? 1 update a month doesn't seem like a lot to ask for...just to pop in really quick to say how the album is coming along....instead they make no mention of it at all and we have to find out about the delays from unofficial sources. It's ridiculous and isn't fair to the fans. After all, we're going to be the ones BUYING the album...shouldn't we be let in on what's happening with it?

by the way, to clarify, my mentioning in my last post as to "why did they even postpone the tour in the first place?" seriously...they could have done the entire tour back when it was first scheduled to happen, made it back to the studio and still cranked out the album by (if not before) September...it just seems like this delay in the tour was just a waste of time...

so, in short, here is the way I think it should go...this would be a great solution to this problem, IMO.

Since the album is apparently done and being mixed/mastered. I think the cure should release the album through iTunes as a download release.

If people want physical media - which I do, trust me! however! the thing is...as much as I love physical media...the last thing on my mind right now is holding a piece of plastic in my hand...the thing I'd REALLY like to be doing now is actually HEARING the new material. So, I think it should be released as a digital download via iTunes and other digital stores until the album is pressed and ready for release. The worst case scenario is that, okay, people might buy the digital download and then not want to buy the CD when it's released...all that means is the record label would have to press fewer copies of the actual physical media...which I don't think the record label would really cry about...saves them some money by not having to have as many copies made, right?

Or here's another idea. Why not have the digital version be the first disc only...and when the physical media is released, have that be the double CD version...so that way, if people only want the main tracks, have those be the ones available from the digital download stores...and then if you want the other tracks, buy the double CD when it is released. Or have Robert's mixes be the ones up for download and the versions mixed by the other person be the one the label puts out? or the other way around. Have the poppy songs put out by the label and the doom and gloom tracks be the ones available to buy as downloads...something, ANYTHING but delaying the entire thing until September...seriously...it's just a slap in the face to the fans, really.

There are soooo many alternatives that you could have here...so many details that you could switch around to have this work to make everyone happy...yet they aren't doing any of them...they are just making everyone wait 4 more months.

haha, jpx, nope, don't think we're related ;) lmao, I've read some of your posts, though and I agree with you on a lot of your points. I'm a huge Cure fan but...you can only take so much disappointment before you speak up and see things for what they are.

sorry, I just had a lot to say on the subject...rather than stretch it out over 10 smaller posts when people respond asking certain question or by making certain statements, I figured I'd get it all out right off the bat. This news just irritates me.

@v:yes! I can't wait! it's the first year they've been here that I haven't had prior plans keeping me from a concert...and what a year to see them! one of the greatest bands ever at one of the best venues ever! see you there, for sure! I know some people were talking about a possible cure fan meet up at one of the bars or something in Morrison the day of the show...if someone else starts up another meet-up perhaps we'll get to chat!

Where are you at for the show? I've got row 14 seat 78...haha, could be better...but could be worse ;) I just held onto my ticket from last year...figured I didn't want to chance getting worse seats this time around.

@sean: Your seat will be great! I'm sure you've been there before, but in my opinion row 14/15 at Red Rocks still feels very close to the stage. Plus you will have a great view! You should be very excited about your seat!

My seat is Row 4, Seat 15. I went to scope it out earlier this year, and took this photo of the view from my seat. It's a bit far to the side, but it will be okay, because it's very close. And it's on the Simon side of the stage, which is always a requirement for me. :D

Let me know if people end up getting together before/after the show (you can email me at the email address listed in my Blogger profile :) )! I have friends coming in from Germany for this show, but we may be interested in getting together with some other Cure fans. :D I am so excited!!

Hi All First time poster here,but long long long time Cure fan and monitor of C.O.F.(the only reliable source of Cure info).I have been wettin myself laughing lately with the tantrums here over the delay of the release of the new material (JPX breaks me up entirely).Reading between it all I dont think its the time frame between the release of "The Cure" and the new material. I think its more to do with the fact that the official site is defunckt of the courtesy of an update and that the U.S. tour is going to happen (it now looks certain) before anything new gets released.My tuppence worth is:

The European tour was scheduled with no hope of new material being released prior to the tour. I was lucky enough to be in Berlin & London and trust me, (they were my 8th and 9th outings), this present Cure live are absof***inglutely awesome. Limited new material will NOT diminish your enjoyment.

There was 4 years between "Wish" & "Wild Mood Swings". There was 4 years 2 months between "WMS" and "Bloodflowers".There was 4 years 4 months between "BF" and "The Cure". If September becomes reality there will have been 4 years 3 months between "The Cure" and "The New" ???Seems to me that they will be bang on time and whats more with a double helping. You have to go back to 1992 for a lesser time frame between releases ie: 3 years between "Disintegration " and "Wish".SO CHILL PEOPLE. CHILL.(Except JPX. Id miss the humour too much) Good things come to those who wait.(Sorry its a bit long)

I, for one, refuse to download songs unless they are not available in a physical format. Sure, a lot of people may be cool with low grade 128 or 256 kbps quality audio, but I'm not one of them. When sites such as iTunes and eMusic start making uncompressed wav quality audio available for sale at the same price or cheaper than that of a cd, I'll consider buying it.

Who in their right mind thinks that a "double" album will actually contain a "double" album's worth of good material?

They risk poor reviews, as well as boring their fans and lowering their GPA of musical integrity.

The longer you take to polish something, the more likely it is that you've been polishing a turd.

I LIKE the new songs they've played live. I LOVE the idea of recording 33 or 50 or whatever number of tunes they've got.

But they need an editor or something. There is no way in hell all those songs are going to be good. Or make sense as a giant collection like that. It would have to be a "concept" album to make sense like that. That, or they've got some killer varied instrumentation going on. Otherwise, can you guess how many of those wonderful 33+/- songs will "sound the same"?

RS is capable of writing anther Pornography or Wish or Disintegration. All he needs is a heap of drugs and booze and someone to engineer it while he plays all the instruments, kicks a band member out and says "the Cure are over". It's usually emotional/creative stress like that which drives the creative process.

But, take my 2cents with grains of salt. I'm in that awful minority of folk who can't stand "Mint Car", was massively disappointed with everything but the opening tracks on the last 3 Cure records, and don't even get me started on "Just Say Yes" - on either version of that plop.

Like all or most of y'all I'll be buying Cure no. 13. My $'s already spent. I don't know why I bother to have expectations, or why I check cure.com/corporateslags for some insight into what the hell is going on in Cure-ville. They used to be mysterious and amazing for me to listen to, even if RS has morphed into a fetid piece of bloated cheese - he still got the pipes, yo! Unfortunately, I think the most interesting thing about this entire album #13 venture will be to see how Universal will pull off marketing these aging rockers in the year that the new GNR bows as well. Maybe they can pitch it to the next generation, the one that watches "Dragon Hunters"?

I am coming out to red rocks from california and have seats in row 19and row 20, but seems pretty far back. also it looks like there are 1000 seats per row or something. one pair is 40 and 41 the other 98 and 99 are either of these centered? does anyone know which are the better view. i am going to all the shows from denver to san diego, except san jose and I still need tickets to vancouver if anyone has an extra pair.

@namepa: There are probably about an average of 100 seats per row at Red Rocks, but I believe as you go further back, the more seats there are in the row until you get to the very last rows. The seat numbering starts on stage left (aka Simon side), so your higher-numbered seats are more likely to be on the Porl side of the stage, while the ones in the 40s are probably towards the center of the row. You can see a seating chart here, which also will give you an idea of what your view will be like from where you are sitting. This PDF version of the chart may also be helpful to you. It is an awesome venue, and your seats will be great. :) Hope this helps.

Speaking of long delays, keeping the fans involved, excitement about new stuff (...): NIN have a new single out - none of the instrumental tracks released back in march, it's a new song and it's available for *FREE* on their website. Enjoy.

Have you ever looked up the Masterin Lab's website? Well it says that "As of April 11 the Mastering Lab moves to Ojai"I am not a US citizen but I am sure that Ojai is not part of Los Angeles..The only thing that strikes me here is the fact the cure was there on 21 April.For me it sounds a bit mission impossible..Whether this news is false or not I think they should have done this wtour in line with the new album..and not 4-5 month before it gets released. Hope you guys will hear more new songs during the North American part of the tour.

Is this (The Mastering Lab's Ojai location) not part of the Greater Los Angeles area? I'd call it close enough... :P Craig's post says they were mastering the album in Los Angeles, not Hollywood specifically, so I'd say this info is still "plausible". ;)

Have you ever looked up the Masterin Lab's website? Well it says that "As of April 11 the Mastering Lab moves to Ojai"I am not a US citizen but I am sure that Ojai is not part of Los Angeles..The only thing that strikes me here is the fact the cure was there on 21 April.For me it sounds a bit mission impossible..Whether this news is false or not I think they should have done this wtour in line with the new album..and not 4-5 month before it gets released. Hope you guys will hear more new songs during the North American part of the tour.

Hi All! I just finally figured out how to use Open ID, so please excuse my excitement...Anyway, I was just thinking that perhaps the Sept date is the date for the regular shmo version of the album and that the special two disc delux version with a Robert Rub Down will come out earlier? Anyone think this is a believable theory? Either way, I'm really excited about the new album! 2 discs!

what,as downloads?no physical piece in my hand,no reading a thousendth time again the lyrics and the booklet?I AGREE WITH SAMTHEDOG!!!and think should send some tissues to the states to dry your tears,poor winnipoohs!!!!!and do not forget,that you are the ones who expecting the tour,so we europeans are these who expect a new album AND a new tour!!if you can`t change the things,change your point of view!!!!over and out

I said that the first disc shoul be released as a digital download UNTIL the new album is ready to be released in a physical format!

Believe me, I want a physical copy, too! but as of right now, since the album is probably done and is just waiting on marketing stuff to be done, I would like to just be able to HEAR the new album now.

and no one here is crying about it...it's just frustrating like it is to everyone else...around the world...has nothing to do with only us here in the states. And yes, but Europe has had dates both in 2005 AND some this year...we haven't had the Cure here since 2004 ;)

I agree the Europeans had this years shows and we only had the curiousa tour to keep us happy. I am actually thankful that they delayed the tour. I had tickets to the September 27th show in toronto and had to grand open a store so I wouldn't have been able to make it. Thankfully I now have the time off and money to make the trip worthwhile. As for the new album I am looking forward to it a great deal. Didn't get into the cure until bloodflowers, and I liked "The Cure" as an album but it hasn't stacked up to disintegration and faith and pornography. I do like wms and wish also a bit poppier but not bad by any means. I hope the new album is great but I do think the delays are a little excessive. Much like the fact that the band hasn't gotten inducted into the hall of fame, but madonna does. Don't get me started on that though.

hi all! so i'm a 17 year old american. Got into The Cure when i was about 12 or 13.

My idea is that, no matter when the album comes out, they could release a single or something untill then. Get a music video going and give us a studio quality new track, rather than crappy youtube rips. At least try and distract us for awhile. : )

I LOVE this band 16 years and counting, but this is getting out of hand: 1. I know they dont owe me ANYTHING, if anything, I owe them 2. The record Co. prob has their hands in a lot of this 3. Robert is a perfectionist BUT....At least update the "Official" page with some info on this...

see now...i dont even care that i have to wait, just as long as this info is true...i just realized thats all i needed was to know somethin to be happy. assumin its true, which it very well may not be cuz look at the past couple years, it eases my mind and makes another few months ok in my mind. o well.

I am thinking along the same lines as losingsoul....if this info is true...(i wont be shocked if it isn't) then I think the new album will be out well before Sept, its probably pencilled in later just in case some other delay came up.

No offense, sean, but I despise the idea of digital-only music! I want a bloody album in my hands with nice packaging (at least the jewel case and liner notes) with lyrics and possibly pictures.

I don't mind awaiting a few months if I get a proper album. I HATE itunes and all that mp3 crap or having to burn ugly copies from my computer.

I do agree with you on the pathetic quality of the official site.

I do think, though, that it's understandable that Robert is taking so long because I want the album to be as good as "Wish" and certainly better than the last few decades. Who knows how long Porl will stick around this time? Might as well do it right, and make it the best, most innovative Cure album in a long while -- and in a good way.

I really don't mind. They're on schedule for their "every 4 years" album, and Robert has always said it's not any fun if he can't live his life at the same time. They have wives and (extended) families.

Then again, I'm a sucker for punishing myself by delaying gratification. I still haven't listened to the all official versions of Radiohead's songs released on "In Rainbows"!

Seth Frost, I think Robert said that the double album would include instrumentals because he's trying to create a thematic album with all kinds of moods. I'm so excited Robert decided to go with the uncompromising double album and not target things to only supposedly appeal to the mainstream, i.e. "alt.end", "Never", etc. Hopefully this will be different!

I read your later comments, sean, and realize you meant for Robert to release a digital version to hold people over until the official album physically is released. Not a bad idea. They could pull a Radiohead.

I know Robert has long felt itunes charges too much and digital download songs should cost around 3 cents each.

yes, I just think that if the new album will indeed be a double-cd...I think there would be no harm in releasing the first disc only to download on iTunes until the physical copies are made available in stores. Because, from what I've heard Robert say about the new album, he said that he wants to release the double album for the price of a single CD...so, if people wanted to buy the first disc from iTunes and then didn't want the double CD physical copy...hey, who cares? they already paid $11 for the download of disc 1...and then if people want the double album when it comes out, they can buy that. I know I'd buy both the download and then the physical copy. it wouldn't be like the record label was losing out any. Which is why, although Robert thinks the iTunes prices may be too high...it's fair...99 cents a track is okay...the label would DEFINITELY be losing out if they only charged the 3 cents Robert thinks is fair lol.

I know some people complain about the compressed audio quality...but seriously...come on...it would just be something to tide you over until the CD version is released. I admit, I don't agree with iTunes 128 quality...I wish they would do what they did last year with EMI's catalog and have a choice for buyers to pay slightly more (I think it was around 1.29 per song) to get 256kpbs quality...but even that could be better.

and you wouldn't have to buy every track off of iTunes if you didn't like it...you could preview the new album and only download the tracks you want...sounds like it would be a decent solution until the album is in stores.

it just seems weird that they have it listed...they have so much info, it seems...yet there is no track listing offered on the auction...sure we know the single would be called "the only one" but it mentions that each single will have a b-side...and this track isn't mentioned...and it says "+ collectors box" wtf is that?...just makes me suspicious.

hmmmm, interesting. I have many limited edition CD's that have come in special packaging...I guess I just didn't read correctly and assumed that each of these singles was going to come in a box-set type of packaging and wondered what in the world there could be that could be contained in 4 separate box-sets for single cd's.

OK, this may be a tad off topic, but a couple of you mention the price of MP3s.. I think that $.99 for a song is totally fair. What's UNFAIR (to me) is to charge $9.99 for an album that is only MP3s! It's absurd. You don't get anything for your money, and often you can buy the physical CD for the same or less and with a physical CD you still have something of value that can be resold or traded, whereas with an MP3 you have nothing. You have 1s and 0s. Digital albums should be $5. That way, it's an incentive to buy the whole album, and it's a better deal than buying each song individually. However, if you just want one song, you should be able to buy it alone for $.99. Of course, there should also be no such thing as "exclusive" tracks that only come with the purchase of the whole album. That's the type of thing that encourages theft.(Misnomers steps off his soapbox and, flushed, walks away).